Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: EC:2.7.10.2 (focal adhesion kinase)
44,029 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Prospective studies on the detection of minimal residual disease (MRD) in acute leukemia patients have shown that large-scale MRD studies are feasible and that clinically relevant MRD-based risk group classification can be achieved and can now be used for designing new treatment protocols. However, multicenter international treatment protocols with MRD-based stratification of treatment need careful standardization and quality control of the MRD techniques. This was the aim of the European BIOMED-1 Concerted Action 'Investigation of minimal residual disease in acute leukemia: international standardization and clinical evaluation' with participants of 14 laboratories in eight European countries (ES, NL, PT, IT, DE, FR, SE and AT). Standardization and quality control was performed for the three main types of MRD techniques, ie flow cytometric immunophenotyping, PCR analysis of antigen receptor genes, and RT-PCR analysis of well-defined chromosomal aberrations. This study focussed on the latter MRD technique. A total of nine well-defined chromosome aberrations with fusion gene transcripts were selected: t(1;19) with E2A-PBX1, t(4;11) with MLL-AF4, t(8;21) with AML1-ETO, t(9;22) with BCR-ABL p190 and BCR-ABL p210, t(12;21) with TEL-AML1, t(15;17) with PML-RARA, inv (16) with CBFB-MYH11, and microdeletion 1p32 with SIL-TAL1. PCR primers were designed according to predefined criteria for single PCR (external primers A <--> B) and nested PCR (internal primers C <--> D) as well as for 'shifted' PCR with a primer upstream (E5' primer) or downstream (E3' primer) of the external A <--> B primers. The 'shifted' E primers were designed for performing an independent PCR together with one of the internal primers for confirmation (or exclusion) of positive results. Various local RT and PCR protocols were compared and subsequently a common protocol was designed, tested and adapted, resulting in a standardized RT-PCR protocol. After initial testing (with adaptations whenever necessary) and approval by two or three laboratories, the primers were tested by all participating laboratories, using 17 cell lines and patient samples as positive controls. This testing included comparison with local protocols and primers as well as sensitivity testing via dilution experiments. The collaborative efforts resulted in standardized primer sets with a minimal target sensitivity of 10-2 for virtually all single PCR analyses, whereas the nested PCR analyses generally reached the minimal target sensitivity of 10-4. The standardized RT-PCR protocol and primer sets can now be used for molecular classification of acute leukemia at diagnosis and for MRD detection during follow-up to evaluate treatment effectiveness.
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PMID:Standardized RT-PCR analysis of fusion gene transcripts from chromosome aberrations in acute leukemia for detection of minimal residual disease. Report of the BIOMED-1 Concerted Action: investigation of minimal residual disease in acute leukemia. 1060 11

The early diagnostic efficacy of serial Candida antigen detection by the assay kit CAND-TEC (a latex particle agglutination test) was evaluated in 12 episodes in 10 patients with acute leukemia after post-remission chemotherapy. To determine the timing to initiate antifungal chemotherapy, we performed the CAND-TEC assay serially in each patient. When the patients revealed febrile neutropenia after antileukemic chemotherapy and the Candida antigen titer was increased compared to that measured before the antileukemic chemotherapy (even if the increased titer was at a lower level, e.g., from negative to 1:1 positive or from 1:1 to 1:2), azole antifungal agents (fluconazole or miconazole) were administered intravenously. In 9 (81.8%) of the 11 evaluable cases, the antifungal chemotherapy was effective and the titers decreased to less than or equal to the previous titers in all cases. In 2 cases, the antifungal chemotherapy was not effective, and the titers did not decrease. These results suggest that serial Candida antigen detection provides a useful method in the early diagnosis of invasive candidiasis in febrile neutropenia and in determining the timing of the initiation of early antifungal chemotherapy. This method might also be useful in preventing the excess use of antifungal agents; thus preventing the proliferation of azole-resistant Candida infection.
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PMID:Surveillance of the serum Candida antigen titer for initiation of antifungal therapy after post-remission chemotherapy in patients with acute leukemia. 1084 34

BCR/ABL, the oncoprotein responsible for chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), transforms hematopoietic cells through both Ras-dependent and -independent mechanisms. Farnesyl protein transferase inhibitors (FTIs) were designed to block mutant Ras signaling, but they also inhibit the growth of transformed cells with wild-type Ras, implying that other farnesylated targets contribute to FTI action. In the current study, the clinical candidate FTI SCH66336 was characterized for its ability to inhibit BCR/ABL transformation. When tested against BCR/ABL-BaF3 cells, a murine cell line that is leukemogenic in mice, SCH66336 potently inhibited soft agar colony formation, slowed proliferation, and sensitized cells to apoptotic stimuli. Quantification of activated guanosine triphosphate (GTP)-bound Ras protein and electrophoretic mobility shift assays for AP-1 DNA binding showed that Ras effector pathways are inhibited by SCH66336. However, SCH66336 was more inhibitory than dominant-negative Ras in assays of soft agar colony formation and cell proliferation, suggesting activity against targets other than Ras. Cell cycle analysis of BCR/ABL-BaF3 cells treated with SCH66336 revealed G2/M blockade, consistent with recent reports that centromeric proteins that regulate the G2/M checkpoint are critical farnesylated targets of FTI action. Mice injected intravenously with BCR/ABL-BaF3 cells developed acute leukemia and died within 4 weeks with massive splenomegaly, elevated white blood cell counts, and anemia. In contrast, nearly all mice treated with SCH66336 survived and have remained disease-free for more than a year. Furthermore, SCH66336 selectively inhibited the hematopoietic colony formation of primary human CML cells. As an oral, nontoxic compound with a mechanism of action distinct from that of ABL tyrosine kinase inhibition, FTI SCH66336 shows promise for the treatment of BCR/ABL-induced leukemia.
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PMID:Activity of the farnesyl protein transferase inhibitor SCH66336 against BCR/ABL-induced murine leukemia and primary cells from patients with chronic myeloid leukemia. 1122 87

Bone marrow cells of 325 adults with acute leukemia were immunophenotyped using a panel of monoclonal antibodies proposed by the European Group for the Immunological Characterization of Leukemias (EGIL). Of these, 97.2% could be assigned clearly to myeloid or lymphoid lineage (254 acute myeloid leukemias [AMLs], 48 B-cell lineage acute lymphoblastic leukemias [ALLs], 14 T-cell lineage ALLs), 1.8% as biphenotypic, and less than 1% as undifferentiated. Immunologic subtyping of ALLs revealed an association between early precursor phenotypes and coexpression of myeloid antigens, particularly CD15/CD65s coexpression and pre-pre-B cell-specific phenotypes and genotypes. The common ALL phenotype was associated with BCR-ABL translocation. Among AMLs, CD2 coexpression was almost exclusively restricted to French-American-British subtypes M3 variant and M4Eo and related molecular aberrations. The most valuable markers to differentiate between myeloperoxidase-negative AML subtypes M0 and ALLs were CD13, CD33, and CD117, typical of M0, and intracytoplasmic CD79a, intracytoplasmic CD3, CD10, and CD2, typical of B cell- or T cell-lineage ALL. Our results confirm excellent practicability of the EGIL proposalfor immunologic classification of acute leukemias. For myeloperoxidase-negative AMLs, we suggest a scoring system based on markers most valuable to distinguish between AML-M0 and ALLs.
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PMID:The immunophenotype of 325 adult acute leukemias: relationship to morphologic and molecular classification and proposal for a minimal screening program highly predictive for lineage discrimination. 1188 77

Constitutive activation of tyrosine kinases, such as the BCR/ABL fusion associated with t(9;22)(q34;q22), is a hallmark of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) syndromes in humans. Expression of BCR/ABL is both necessary and sufficient to cause a chronic myeloproliferative syndrome in murine bone marrow transplantation models, and absolutely depends on kinase activity. Progression of CML to acute leukemia (blast crisis) in humans has been associated with acquisition of secondary chromosomal translocations, including the t(7;11)(p15;p15) resulting in the NUP98/HOXA9 fusion protein. We demonstrate that BCR/ABL cooperates with NUP98/HOXA9 to cause blast crisis in a murine model. The phenotype depends both on expression of BCR/ABL and NUP98/HOXA9, but tumors retain sensitivity to the ABL inhibitor STI571 in vitro and in vivo. This paradigm is applicable to other constitutively activated tyrosine kinases such as TEL/PDGFbetaR. These experiments document cooperative effects between constitutively activated tyrosine kinases, which confer proliferative and survival properties to hematopoietic cells, with mutations that impair differentiation, such as the NUP98/HOXA9, giving rise to the acute myeloid leukemia (AML) phenotype. Furthermore, these data indicate that despite acquisition of additional mutations, CML blast crisis cells retain their dependence on BCR/ABL for proliferation and survival.
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PMID:A murine model of CML blast crisis induced by cooperation between BCR/ABL and NUP98/HOXA9. 1203 33

Using human acute leukemia HL-60/Bcr-Abl (with ectopic expression of p185 Bcr-Abl) and K562 cells (with endogenous expression of p210 Bcr-Abl) subjected to a continuous selection pressure of up to 1.0 micro M Gleevec (imatinib mesylate, STI-571), we have isolated Gleevec-resistant K562 R (+Bcr-Abl), K562 R (-Bcr-Abl), and HL-60/Bcr-Abl R cells, which display disparate level and activity of Bcr-Abl tyrosine kinase (TK). As compared with their sensitive counterparts, Gleevec-resistant cell types were >/=5-fold resistant to Gleevec-induced apoptosis. Bcr-Abl protein levels were significantly increased in HL-60/Bcr-Abl R and K562 R (+Bcr-Abl) cells, but K562 R (-Bcr-Abl) cells showed a marked decline in the mRNA and protein levels and activity of Bcr-Abl. Bcr-Abl TK level and activity corresponded to the signal transducers and activators of transcription-5 DNA binding activity and up-regulation of heat shock protein 70 levels. The decline in Bcr-Abl expression and TK activity in K562 R (-Bcr-Abl) cells was associated with reduced AKT kinase and signal transducers and activators of transcription-5 DNA binding activities and increased sensitivity to the death ligand Apo-2 ligand/tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand and 1-beta-D-arabinofuranosylcytosine-induced apoptosis. All Gleevec-resistant cell types were sensitive to 17-allylamino-17-demethoxygeldanamycin (17-AAG)- and PD180970 (a SRC and Bcr-Abl TK inhibitor)-induced apoptosis. Treatment with 17-AAG or PD180970 also induced apoptosis of CD34+ leukemic cells from three patients with chronic myeloid leukemia in blast crisis who had progressive leukemia while receiving Gleevec therapy. Taken together, these findings indicate that in addition to overexpression or mutations in Bcr-Abl, resistance to Gleevec may also develop due to a loss of Bcr-Abl expression. These findings also support the rationale to test the in vivo efficacy of 17-AAG and PD180970 against STI-571-resistant Bcr-Abl-positive acute leukemias.
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PMID:Molecular characterization and sensitivity of STI-571 (imatinib mesylate, Gleevec)-resistant, Bcr-Abl-positive, human acute leukemia cells to SRC kinase inhibitor PD180970 and 17-allylamino-17-demethoxygeldanamycin. 1238 36

Chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) is a clonal stem cell disease caused by the BCR-ABL oncoprotein and is characterized, in its early phase, by excessive accumulation of mature myeloid cells, which eventually leads to acute leukemia. The genetic events involved in CML's progression to acute leukemia remain largely unknown. Recent studies have detected the presence of the NUP98-HOXA9 fusion oncogene in acute leukemia derived from CML patients, which suggests that these 2 oncoproteins may interact and influence CML disease progression. Using in vitro purging of BCR-ABL-transduced mouse bone marrow cells, we can now report that recipients of bone marrow cells engineered to coexpress BCR-ABL with NUP98-HOXA9 develop acute leukemia within 7 to 10 days after transplantation. However, no disease is detected for more than 2 months in mice receiving bone marrow cells expressing either BCR-ABL or NUP98-HOXA9. We also provide evidence of high levels of HOXA9 expressed in leukemic blasts from acute-phase CML patients and that it interacts significantly on a genetic level with BCR-ABL in our in vivo CML model. Together, these studies support a causative, as opposed to a consequential, role for NUP98-HOXA9 (and possibly HOXA9) in CML disease progression.
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PMID:Oncogenic interaction between BCR-ABL and NUP98-HOXA9 demonstrated by the use of an in vitro purging culture system. 1239 33

The Fifteenth International Symposium of the Foundation for Promotion of Cancer Research entitled 'New Horizons in the Diagnosis and Treatment of Hematological Malignancies Based on Molecular Genetic Features' was held in Tokyo on January 15-17, 2002. Twenty-nine invited speakers, including 12 from abroad and 17 from Japan, presented the updated results of their research. After an overview of the classification of hematological malignancies, new findings on some disease entities based on novel immunophenotypic and molecular genetic features were presented. The results of gene expression profiling and BCL6 and C-MYC gene rearrangement in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma were presented and oncogenic mechanism of acute myeloid leukemia was discussed. In the treatment of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and acute leukemia, the present consensus and future directions were discussed based on the results of multicenter trials in the USA and Japan. As a molecular targeting therapy, the remarkable effect of a BCR-ABL tyrosine kinase inhibitor, STI571, in chronic myeloid leukemia and gastrointestinal stromal tumor was presented. Thereafter, promising results of active immunotherapy, chimeric anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody, anti-CD20 radioimmunoconjugate and anti-CD22 immunotoxin for B-cell lymphoma were presented. Finally, recent advances in allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation were discussed, focusing on reduced-intensity preparative regimens. The recent advances in basic and clinical research on hematological malignancies would lead to further improvement in the prognosis and quality of life of patients suffering from leukemia or lymphoma.
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PMID:Report of the fifteenth international symposium of the foundation for promotion of cancer research: new horizons in the diagnosis and treatment of hematological malignancies based on molecular genetic features. 1241 6

Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) and Fas ligand (FasL) have been implicated in antitumor immunity and therapy. In the present study, we investigated the sensitivity of Philadelphia chromosome (Ph1)-positive leukemia cell lines to TRAIL- or FasL-induced cell death to explore the possible contribution of these molecules to immunotherapy against Ph1-positive leukemias. TRAIL, but not FasL, effectively induced apoptotic cell death in most of 5 chronic myelogenous leukemia-derived and 7 acute leukemia-derived Ph1-positive cell lines. The sensitivity to TRAIL was correlated with cell-surface expression of death-inducing receptors DR4 and/or DR5. The TRAIL-induced cell death was caspase-dependent and enhanced by nuclear factor kappa B inhibitors. Moreover, primary leukemia cells from Ph1-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia patients were also sensitive to TRAIL, but not to FasL, depending on DR4/DR5 expression. Fas-associated death domain protein (FADD) and caspase-8, components of death-inducing signaling complex (DISC), as well as FLIP (FLICE [Fas-associating protein with death domain-like interleukin-1-converting enzyme]/caspase-8 inhibitory protein), a negative regulator of caspase-8, were expressed ubiquitously in Ph1-positive leukemia cell lines irrespective of their differential sensitivities to TRAIL and FasL. Notably, TRAIL could induce cell death in the Ph1-positive leukemia cell lines that were refractory to a BCR-ABL-specific tyrosine kinase inhibitor imatinib mesylate (STI571; Novartis Pharma, Basel, Switzerland). These results suggested the potential utility of recombinant TRAIL as a novel therapeutic agent and the possible contribution of endogenously expressed TRAIL to immunotherapy against Ph1-positive leukemias.
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PMID:TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) frequently induces apoptosis in Philadelphia chromosome-positive leukemia cells. 1250 34

Real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) (qPCR) of the BCR-ABL mRNA is a suitable technique to measure the amount of circulating leukemic cells in chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). In this study, we evaluated a BCR-ABL-specific qPCR method using the LightCycler technology in 95 patients with Philadelphia chromosome positive acute leukemia (n = 7) or CML in different stages (n = 88). Primers and hybridization probes were chosen to detect the most prevalent variants of BCR-ABL (b2a2, b3a2, b2a3, b3a3, e19a2, e1a2) with a sensitivity of 10-5 for b2a2 and b3a2. With median BCR-ABL/G6PDH ratios of 10.7% in the untreated chronic phase, 43.2% in the newly diagnosed accelerated phase, and 131.4% in newly diagnosed blast crisis the BCR-ABL mRNA levels varied significantly between different stages of CML whereas no difference was found between blast crisis and untreated acute leukemias (136.9%). There was a strong relationship between qPCR results and cytogenetics in patients treated with imatinib, interferon-alpha, or following allografting. Thirteen patients with CML were sequentially examined by qPCR following myeloablative or non-myeloablative allogeneic peripheral blood stem cell transplantation. Five patients received donor lymphocytes and became BCR-ABL negative as confirmed by nested RT-PCR. The gradual disappearance of BCR-ABL positive cells could be monitored by qPCR following non-myeloablative transplantation. Comparison of BCR-ABL levels with the degree of donor chimerism showed that 91% of samples with complete donor chimerism were BCR-ABL negative. In 22% of BCR-ABL negative samples chimerism between 71% and 98% was observed, indicating the persistence of normal recipient's hematopoietic cells. In conclusion, the qPCR protocol used in this study is a reliable and fast method for monitoring molecular response in CML.
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PMID:Quantitative real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction for diagnosis of BCR-ABL positive leukemias and molecular monitoring following allogeneic stem cell transplantation. 1263 Dec 53


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